Participação e consciência política: análise psicopolítica da experiência de lideranças femininas urbanas

Abstract

In this research, "Participation and Political conscience: pycho-political analizis of the urban women leadership", I investigate if the participation in the decision instances and social movements interfere in the construction of new identities among women. The study about the political participation of women is justified because the existing theoretical production that is related to this theme is limited, many times, to the record of the women's suffrage participation, and is not interested in the relation among gender and the diverse ways of political participation. We may say that there is much research to be done about women leadership, moreover, the studies regarding the women leadership contribute so one can better comprehend the concept of gender as a relevant political category. The theoretical concepts hereby utilized are grounded on the political psychology and on psychosocial studies. As a research methodology I used life stories; the sample was made of nineteen women who belonged to three different groups: the first group was constituted by women who had a party politics participation; the second group was constituted by business women, and the third one, by community leaders. It was possible to verify the diverse identities constructed from the social-political involvement by these women in the diversity of these participation instances, as well as the repercussion of this participation in their private and public lives.